Exit Interview: Tyler Lyons

Last year, I spent the time immediately after the season examining each player that had made an appearance in St. Louis during the season. This series was well received and so I’m bringing this idea back for the 2013 offseason. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny‘s office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter. Stats are just the ones accumulated for the Cardinals during the regular season.

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Positives: Well, obviously nothing meant more than this blog than to see Lyons take the field with the big number 70 on his back. He came up and had two solid starts right out of the gate, though against easier competition. Still, two straight games of seven innings, one-run baseball isn’t anything to sneeze at. Lyons spent much of the rest of the summer in Memphis, but when he came up and got a little bit of time in the bullpen, it agreed with him. As a reliever, he put up a sub-1.00 ERA and struck out 10 in just over nine innings.

Negatives: When the competition ramped up after his first couple of starts, his results went the opposite way. He was touched for six runs against the Marlins as well, a team that wasn’t on anyone’s list of powerhouses (though they did a number on Cardinal pitchers in that series). He struggled twice against the left-handed heavy Reds (both times in Great American, which might be a qualifying factor).

Outlook: Lyons is young, left-handed and has impeccable taste in numbers. The starting rotation is a little crowded and it would seem unlikely that he could crack it, at least long-term–in theory he could sneak into it at the beginning of the season if Jaime Garcia wasn’t ready. He’ll probably pitch most of next season in Memphis with some time up with the big club, assuming that he’s not part of a trade package this winter. He is a lefty, you know.